


Anxieties and Theories

by SvenYves



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Zombies, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-04 05:22:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2953871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SvenYves/pseuds/SvenYves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophie Grayson was always a simple girl though she never thought that anything she did was simple. Overthinking everything she did was how Sophie lived her life. That is until Daryl walked into her path. She saw him that day and knew that she was in for it. He was too interesting for her to ignore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, Everyone!! So, this is my first fanfic! (This means give some feedback! I need it. Good or bad, just let me know.)  
> This is just a little something that I thought up and wanted to write it down.  
> I have no idea exactly were this is going.  
> However, if you have any ideas or really would like to see something, let me know.  
> I will love to hear it and I need inspiration. (I will credit you too. Promise. Good ideas need to be credited. :D)
> 
> So. Onward we go!

“Oh, ouch. Why do I always do that?”

As usual, Sophie sipped her coffee without blowing on the hot drink. She thought her mouth was permanently burnt on the inside. She always burnt her mouth because she never paid enough attention to her drink to notice it was too hot. Her normal coffee run before work always turned out the same. She woke early, got dressed and rushed to her favorite coffee shop. It was a little out of her way to work but she loved this shop. For one, it had better coffee. Two, it always had an open, though quite old, love seat in the corner so she did not have to sit close to anyone. She needed to build up her confidence in the morning before she had to go to work and converse with people. Her anxiety and shyness made it hard for her to look people in the eye or even speak. She loved her quiet and isolation. She needed a little in the morning before she had to dive into social life. The coffee shop was set up like a square. The front right corner housed the door while the back right corner held her love seat so she could see the whole room from her space. The counter was placed in between the left corners. This left her with space away from the customers entering and ordering. 

She took another sip of her latte, watching the other customers in the store. Sophie was an avid people-watcher. While she was not keen on interacting with people, mostly because she was just too apprehensive to speak, she loved watching people. She wondered about them. Where were they going? Why did they come into this coffee shop? Was it their favorite or was it just convenient? As she was imagining that the older man drinking tea by the door was actually a British spy who trained James Bond, he walked in. 

Sophie always looked to see who came into the shop while she was there. As the bell chimed, she saw him. Dark messy hair covered his face, as he walked over to the counter. To her, he looked anxious but she bet others thought that he looked annoyed or even pissed off. He was covered in dirt and maybe even motor oil. She thought she smelled the oil from her position in the opposite corner of the room. (Though it was a small room, she guessed it could not be that much oil to cause the smell.) He was the most fascinating person she had ever seen. His clothes were nothing fancy, ripped jeans and an old button up shirt. Sophie thought his face was the best part. He just looked tough. That was the only word Sophie could think of to describe this man. He was handsome, not to imply he was not. But, Sophie could see in the squint of his eyes and the way he set his mouth that he was not one to be messed with. She thought that maybe most of that toughness was just that misconstrued anxiety and apprehension, as he could not seem to hold still. He looked around the room as he was putting in his order. He did not seem to want to chat with the barista even. His mouth looked like it barely moved. Though she was a little far away to hear exactly what he said, she heard his gruff tone voice out a few syllables. 

In the few moments it took the man walk in and order his drink, Sophie knew that she was in for it. She could not stop staring. She wanted to know everything about the dirty, tough guy ordering coffee. Her mind was going a mile a minute. She did not even notice that man she was so focused on was looking at her. She finally got out of her mind to realize that the man was squinting at her. She felt her face flame up and looked away as fast as she could. 

“Oh my God. Oh no. This is not happening.” Sophie whispered repeatedly.

She did not know what to do. She hoped that he was not looking at her anymore. She looked back and found he still was looking at her. He looked confused, even mad. She did not understand it. But, she was so embarrassed that she quickly picked up her stuff to leave. She did not want the man to think she was fawning over him. She knew she was but she did not have to give him that impression.

She walked by him as she left. She did not know if she did it on purpose or she was just finding the fastest way out of the shop. Later, when she would think back on this moment, she knew it was because she wanted to look at him for what she thought might be the last time. No way was she going to show her face in that shop and embarrass herself again. She was in for a shock as she passed him.

“What is her problem? Not good enough for her stuck-up ass?” He mumbled.

Sophie stopped dead in her track. Not good enough? Why did he think that? She was embarrassed and now she had to interact with the guy. Usually she would have just walked away and obsessed over it all day. But she steeled herself and turned to tell him what was what.

“No. No. I, I just was looking. Honest. I do that. I am sorry. I did not mean anything by it.” 

She stammered out the words as fast as her mouth could go. She turned back around and walked out the door. As she was trying to unlock her car door and do breathing exercise to stop what she thought was a panic attack, she heard a bell chime and a door close. 

Sophie did not turn to the door this time. She hope that maybe it was just another customer leaving but her mind anxiously believed that it was the handsome, dirty man coming to tell her off. But instead of shouting, she heard footstep walk up toward her and stop a few feet from her car. Bravely, Sophie looked up and saw the man standing there on the sidewalk, chewing on his thumbnail and looking up at her from under his long shaggy hair. She just stood there looking at him. Of course, she was scared out of her mind at the thought of what he was going to say to her. On the other hand, her mind thought about how sweet he looked standing there. To her, he seemed like a little boy, to scared to ask for something he wanted. But the man finally spoke up as she was examining his sweetness.

“Didn’t mean to get rude with you back there.” He huffed out. He was patting himself, looking for something in his pocket. He finally took out a pack of cigarettes, placed one in his mouth and searched for a lighter.

Sophie noticed that he did not look her in the eye when he apologized. He did not even look anywhere near her face. But she did notice that as he talked and looked for his cigarette, she had stepped closer to him. She was right in front of the curb of the sidewalk. Not that far away from him. As he found his lighter, he looked at her and nodded his head. She figured that might be the international smoker’s signal for: “You okay with me smoking?’ She nodded her head back at him and he began to light his cigarette. She built up her courage and spoke.

“Its. It’s okay. I did not think you were rude.” She said quietly, taking only peeks at his face. 

He grunted out a bark of a laugh. “Like I didn’t scare the shit out of you.” He spoke with the cigarette still in his mouth. Sophie did not think anyone could or would look better than him in this moment. 

“I was staring at you. I was rude first. I. I am Sophie, by the way. Sophie Grayson. So, so you can tell your friends about the strange girl at the coffee shop, who stared at you like a weirdo.” 

Sophie could not believe that she talked so much to the attractive stranger. She did not look at him as she said her, what she thought was annoying, statement. She felt her face heat up as she looked up at his face. She saw he was giving her a tiny smirk. 

“Daryl. Dixon.” He said as he blew some smoke out. 

“Nice to meet you, Daryl Dixon.” Sophie internally winced as she said it. She thought that she was the only person in the world who could be so formal and stupid. 

“I am sorry again. I have to go to work though. See you. Maybe. Not that I was implying that we should. See each other again, I mean. Only if you want. Just saying bye. I say bye like that. Okay. Bye.” Sophie quickly turned around after that awkward goodbye. She walked to her car and as she turned to get in it she saw Daryl looking at her and smirking. 

“I don’t think you want to see me around.” He said, sounding like he knew some secret that she did not.

“I wouldn’t mind. I think you seem nice.” Sophie then did something complete crazy by her standards and she doesn’t know where she found the nerve to do so. She purposefully walked over to Daryl on the sidewalk. She dug her hand into her purse and pulled out a business card. She pushed the card at Daryl, who slowly and confusingly took it. 

“Here, if you are bored or whatever. Call me. Or something.” She then marched back to her car, got in and drove away without so much as look back at Daryl.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sophie worries, as usual. But a trip to the grocery store leads to something unsuspected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, again!  
> Chapter 2 is finally out of my head and on the page.  
> As I will say again, if anyone wants to give me feedback, feel free.  
> Also, if you want to see something between the two of them, let me know!  
> I will happily take the inspiration!  
> So, here it is. Sophie and Daryl meet again!

Sophie kept doing things out of the ordinary that Friday. First, she kept checking her phone throughout her workday. Working at the telephone company in her small town was not something Sophie planned to do with her life. It kind of just fell in her lap. It was comfortable and easy. Sophie never really thought about doing anything else yet and she was fine with her place in the world. She even had business cards made because, well, she always wanted one. Sophie Grayson, Customer Service Representative. It was amazing to her that she had a job that was mostly talking to strangers when that was the one thing in her daily life that caused her the most stress. She handled it the best she could. It was her job. She tried to disconnected herself and just do what she was paid to do. Usually, she would sit down at her cubicle and power through her accounts and tasks until she could leave. She never looked at anything related to outside the office. However, Sophie’s brain was not on her work today. Nope, she was wondering if Daryl was going to call her. She looked at her phone all day. She took her lunch break staring at her iPhone. Maybe her phone was broken? Maybe he lost the card? Maybe he is working or busy? In her anxious mind, she thought that Daryl thought she was silly so he threw the card away. She left work for home with her phone in her hand, waiting for it to ring.

“He is not going to call a crazy girl who stalked him in a coffee shop!” she yelled to her empty apartment. 

Sophie had a tiny apartment. Since she was by herself, it worked out well for her. Her small Georgia town was well suited to provide tiny affordable housing to single working people. Sophie spent most of her time outside of work in her apartment. Currently she was pacing a hole in her living room. She mumbled nonsense like “Stupid, way too hot” or “'Here...Call me.' That was stupid.” Dressed in her footie pajamas that she swore to her mother that she would never wear, Sophie continued her pacing. She started pacing the entire length of her apartment, which was not that long to begin with. Back and forth, she marched and mumbled strings of words that made sense only in Sophie’s mind. 

Finally, she stopped and growled out, “Oh, you stop. Nothing is going to happen. He thought you were crazy. Crap, now I am hungry.” 

After heating up some waffles from her freezer, she settled on her couch covered in blankets and pillows. She marathon watched a show she was dying to see on Netflix and decided that she was not going to think of Daryl Dixon anymore. He was not going to run circles in her mind. And he definitely was not the most interesting or attractive man who had ever talked to her. And she did not think about his eyes or how his mouth looked when he smoked. She did not think about him at all, not even about his smirk. She definitely did not think about the smirk. 

That Saturday morning, since Sophie was not scheduled to work, she decided to run to the grocery store. She got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and jumped into her little, old car. She usually went to Wal-Mart since it was really the only grocery store close to her. She hated going shopping there because it just made her anxious. She always thought it was designed to set you on edge the moment you walked it. She could not decide what exact design feature made her nervous. But, it became a mission for her when she decided that she needed to go to Wal-Mart. Get in, get the stuff, and get out. No headache and no fuss. 

That day she was bound to get a surprise. Her first surprise was that the Wal-Mart was pretty empty. Which was weird for a Saturday, but she was glad for the limited customers. After getting some of the produce that she wanted, Sophie walked over to the meat section and saw her second surprise. Looking up from her cart, she saw him. She could just tell. It was the shoulders. And maybe the hair, she thought. His back was to her and he was standing at the beginning of the section by bacon while she stood at the end near the beef. He was close enough that she could talk and he would definitely hear her. She just stood there with her cart. To move or not to move, that is the question. Sophie stared at Daryl’s back for a while thinking that if he saw her he might call the cops on her for stalking. 

“I cannot go to jail. Nope, I cannot even carve a shiv. “ She said not even realizing she spoke.

She noticed that Daryl had turned around that this bizarre comment. She looked at him then quickly looked at herself. She was in the middle of the aisle, talking to herself about shivs. She moved her cart a few feet away from him and then out of the middle of the aisle. She looked at Daryl, who was just squinting at her again.

“Hi. Hi. Yeah, did you hear that? That was not directed at you. Thinking, that is what that was. Yep, just thoughts.“ Sophie rambled while Daryl turned to completely face her. 

“Don’t worry ‘bout it.” Daryl said after Sophie finished. 

“Yeah. Nice to see you again, Daryl. How are you?” Sophie had not idea why her mouth was moving. She always had a problem talking. Now, it seemed she had a problem shutting up. 

Daryl huffed. “Okay.” 

“Good. Good. What are you up to this Saturday morning?” Sophie could not even comprehend the nonsense that was coming out of her mouth. What are you up to this Saturday morning? A 1950’s cereal commercial is less scripted than the crap she was saying right now.

Daryl raised an eyebrow and looked around the store in a manner that stated, 'What do you think?'

“Right, Right. Wal-Mart. Shopping. Yep, me too. I meant, kind of later. What are you doing later? After this.” Sophie felt like throwing up. Did she just ask Daryl Dixon out? Sophie absolutely thought she was going to throw up. She looked at Daryl and just hoped he would be kind in his rejection. 

“Nothing. Why?” Daryl looked confused. Which was strange to Sophie. She thought that girls would ask him out all the time. So, why was he confused? Though, Sophie did so in an indirect way that was more of a creepy way to get to the point. And then she thought, ‘He did not say no!” 

“I have nothing to do later. If you have nothing to do later, then we can do nothing together. If you want. You do not have to. Just a thought. It might be fun. To do nothing together. Somewhere. Wherever you want.” Sophie was so nervous she knew that she was not even speaking full sentence anymore. She couldn’t look at Daryl. God forbid, he laughs. Then, Sophie felt that she finally had got lucky.

“You wanna go somewhere with me?”

“Yes. I do. I like you. Oh God, no. Not like a creep, okay? You seem interesting, in a good way. Promise. Just, want to talk to you and stuff. So?” Sophie did not think this could be worse. Nope, she thought, nothing is worse than this.

Daryl paused for a moment and looked at Sophie. Sophie looked right back at him and wanted to die. She was scared of what he was going to say. 

“Guess so. Where you wanna go?”

Sophie thought her heart stopped. He seriously wanted to go out with her? She had to think of a place fast before he changed his mind. His cute squinty eyes and lip biting were distracting her. 

“There, there is a bar not far from here. The Brewhouse, I think. We could meet at like, seven o’clock tonight. Is, is that okay?”

“Yeah.” Daryl grunted out and looked away from her. Sophie felt like squealing with joy. She knew that her face was about to be split in half by how much she was smiling but for once in her life she did not care. Sure, she was scared that she was going to mess this date up but Daryl agreed to go out with her. This was the most excited she had been since, well, forever. 

“Great! I meant, yeah, cool. You, you still have my card, with my number?”

Daryl scoffed and pulled out the card from his pants pocket. He looked up and said, “I got it.” Which made Sophie smile even harder because he still had the card on him which she felt had to mean something. 

“Awesome. Call me, okay? If something happens. Or anything else. Like you want to talk. Okay?” 

“Sure.” 

Sophie was sure that that she had talked for much too long. She did not know if Daryl liked that she could not stop talking or if he thought it was annoying. She had to pick her battles and she knew it had been a long conversation by her standards. So, with out warning, she had turned her cart around and started to walk out of the aisle. 

“See you tonight, Daryl” She called behind her, waving as she powered through the store to get in a check out line before Daryl so she did not have to get stuck in line with him too. Check out went quickly and Sophie was able to get to her car in record time. She packed her items into the backseat. She got in the driver’s seat and screamed while doing a little happy dance. 

“OH MY GOD! WHAT!” The old lady in the car next to her looked frighten but Sophie could not be bothered. She had a date with Daryl Dixon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date!! Woo!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, for the long gap in updating. I wanted to get this chapter right.  
> So, here is it. Sophie and Daryl on a date.  
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Also, here is Daryl on his bike because I love you all!  
> 

Sophie was contemplating the pros and cons of a skirt. The skirt was short and black with an interesting flared shirt that made her feel sexy. The question was: “Would a skirt in a bar be a good idea?” The moment she returned to home she began going through her closet. She knew that her date was at seven o’clock that night. By the time she had found the cute black skirt, it was already one o’clock and she had spent a few hours destroying her closet. She needed to prepare for her first date. This was not just a first date with Daryl. This was the first date Sophie had ever been on. That was the cause of her nervousness. Hence, why she had tried on 5 pairs of pants, 7 shirts, 2 dresses, and 3 skirts. Sophie had not even begun to think about the shoe issue.

“What do people on dates actually wear?” Sophie spoke to her reflection in her bedroom mirror. 

She was already jittery and her outfit problem was screwing up her plans. If she did not have a plan, then she was going into DEFCON 5 emergency mode. After a quick Google search to determined which way the DEFCON system worked and thus ignoring proper protocol for aesthetics (DEFCON 5 sounds way cooler than DEFCON 1), Sophie was still having issues. Most of this worry was not even about the outfit. It was easier for Sophie to blame the outfit if the date went wrong then if her personality screwed it up. 

As six o’clock rolled around, Sophie was dressed and ready to go. She decided on a pair of black skinny jeans, a dark green sweater, and a pair of black lace-up boots that she thought made her look rebellious and tough. And though she wanted to get there early, she pulled into the Brewhouse’s parking lot 45 minutes early to her date. She sat in the car for about 10 minutes looking at her phone every minute to check the time. She got out of her car at 6:25 P.M. and walked inside at the slowest possible rate. Sophie thought she would act ‘cool’ by taking a sit at the bar instead of a table. She realized her mistake as soon as the bartender asked what she wanted to drink. Sophie had no clue how to order alcohol because she did not go to bars but she wasn’t a stranger to the stuff. She had an eccentric uncle who loved his drinks and liked to teach her everything he knew about beers and spirits. However, when she would ask him to make her something, she would say, “Can you make me the weird white drink that tasted like coconuts? “ 

Sophie wanted to be cool on this date, hence the boots, so she told the bartender the first beer that came to her mind.

“Yes, I would like a Guinness. A pint of Guinness, please.” Sophie even smacked her hand on the bar, thinking that it might make her seem more sure of herself. 

After about a half hour of sipping on her giant glass of Guinness, which was still half way full, she felt some one behind her and heard the gorgeous grunt of her date for the evening. 

“Hey. You wait long?” Daryl said as he took a sit next to Sophie. 

Sophie thought he looked so good even though he seemed to wear the same outfit everyday. There was something about Daryl in jeans and a button up. Though she was happy to conclude that the jeans and button up looked newer then the other ones she had seen him in before. She wanted to squeal that Daryl got dressed up for her in his own way. 

“Hi! And no. Not long. Just sitting here, drinking. Hanging out.” Sophie did not know if she should hug him but she wanted to hug him. She settled for a tiny wave and then tried her new ‘cool’ persona by lending back on her stool like she was comfortable. Though she had to admit that she had been sitting at the bar bent over her glass hoping that it might suck her up to another dimension before her date started so she did not embarrass herself. 

Daryl huffed at her and then ordered a beer off the draft. Sophie thought that was so much cooler than her random drink order. And while Daryl was ordering, Sophie was trying to think of things she could bring up in conversation. It was very stressful. So, she decided to stop thinking and start talking. When the bartender came back with Daryl’s drink, she turned to him and hoped she made sense.

“So, what do you do? That is a lame date question. But I have to ask, right?”

Daryl drank some of his beer, and turned toward Sophie.

“I work at a mechanic’s shop. Fix bikes. Why you ask me out?”

“Motorcycles?” Sophie did not even realize she ignored Daryl’s question because she was kind of hung on the motorcycles. She loved motorcycles. Well, to be clear, Sophie loved the idea of motorcycles. She had not been on a motorcycle but she loved to think about them. More importantly, she loved the idea of a guy on a motorcycle. A guy like Daryl on a motorcycle was the stuff of Sophie’s daydreams. 

“Yeah. I fix’em. Mind answerin’ my question?” 

“Oh! Oh, sorry. Just motorcycles. Yep. And, I asked you here because I wanted to talk to you. Dates still work that way, right?” As soon as that sarcastic sentence came out of her mouth, Sophie tried not to blush. She hoped that Daryl would find it funny. 

“Yeah, I think dates work that way. What ‘bout you? Whatchu do?” 

Sophie told Daryl about her job at the phone company. She even told him about how hard working there is for her sometimes. She felt like she just kept talking but Daryl listened. There was a nice back and forth between Sophie and Daryl for a few minutes. Daryl asked questions and Sophie asked him questions. Daryl’s questions were not really deep or personal but Sophie was glad that he was interested enough to ask her anything. They even talked about Sophie’s anxiety, which Sophie never really talked to anyone before. Daryl did not seemed weird about it, which made Sophie so happy that her face hurt from smiling. 

“Thanks, Daryl for being so nice. I mean it because you are. Don’t shrug me off!” Sophie pushed him a little when he began to shrug at her comment. She wanted to leave her arm on his shoulder but thought that might be too weird. 

“Hell. It’s nothin’. And don’t be pushin’ me because you’re going fall over, ‘cause you’re a little thing.”

Sophie snorted. Though she liked to think that she was normal size she wasn’t small. She was average height and tended to fit into clothes between the ‘regular’ sizes and ‘plus size’. 

“I am not little. And I am not drunk yet so I am not falling over.” 

While Daryl chuckled at her and took a drink of his beer, Sophie could not forget about a little thing that Daryl brought up earlier in the conversation.

“This is random. But, since you fix ‘bikes’, do you ride one?” Sophie was praying that the answer was yes. She also hoped that if the answer was yes then she could get a ride on it. 

“I ain’t got one of my own. My brother is locked up, so I ride his.” 

“Did you ride it here?” Sophie was staring wide-eyed at Daryl. She knew he knew what she wanted. She was not subtle by any means of that word. She would also remember to ask him about his brother later because Sophie’s brain could only concentrate on Daryl and a motorcycle. She wanted to know more about Daryl and his life but her brain kept screaming, “MOTORCYCLE!” 

“You wanna ride?” 

“Yes, please. Yes. I would really like that.”

“Come on.” Daryl stood up and threw some bills on the counter in front of them. Sophie thought, “Oh My God. A motorcycle!” and “Daryl is so close to me right now that I can smell him.” She thought he kind of smelled like smoke and pine needles. Daryl stood in-between their stools and Sophie tried to touch him without directly touching him. Which, as it sounds, was a strange torso movement that did not help Sophie’s goal in touching Daryl. 

“Girl, you comin’?” Daryl had walked a few feet away from Sophie as she was trying to do impossible things. He was already half way to the door so Sophie shot off her stool. Which was not a good idea because she was excited which makes her clumsy. She stumbled but, to her credit, she did not fall. She made her way to Daryl and they walked out the door together. 

Sophie was bouncing as she walked with Daryl to his motorcycle. Her excitement clouded her insecurities in that moment. When she finally saw Daryl’s ride, Sophie squealed out loud. Which made Daryl chuckle at her but Sophie did not care if Daryl thought she was being silly. 

“It has the handle things!!” Sophie said, putting her arms in the air to mimic holding on to the higher set handles.

“You know nothin’ about bikes, do ya?” 

“Nope. Nothing. But I am really, really excited. Can I get on?” Sophie was walking around the motorcycle, lightly touching it like she thought touching it too hard might shatter it to pieces. When came around to the left side of the motorcycle, Daryl sat himself into the seat and turned on the roaring engine. Sophie thought she was going to die of cardiac arrest because this was her dream come true. Daryl turned his head to look at Sophie and she thought he was waiting for her to get on.

“I haven’t been on one before. Is there a way to get on without killing us? Because I think I could find a way. I was riding a horse once and kicked someone in the head trying to climb on it.”

Daryl raised his eyebrows and said, “Girl, get on the bike. Ain’t nothin’ going to happen.”

Sophie put her hands on his shoulders for support and lifted her leg over the machine. It was a little bit of a wiggle and slide before Sophie sat down. But she thought most of the awkwardness was from the fact that she was more aware of Daryl’s shoulders than sitting down on the bike. Sophie slid her hands so they wrapped around Daryl’s waist and scooted up to sit right behind him on the bike. 

“You ready? We ain’t going far. You can’t ride turns, yet.” Daryl turned to look at her over his right shoulder. Sophie heard that ‘yet’ and wanted to yell out. Daryl was going to take her out on the ‘bike’ more than once!

“Yes! Yes, Yes, Yes!” Sophie did not even think about what she was doing. She was so happy that she was cuddle up on the back of a ‘bike’ with Daryl. She leaned up the best she could and landed a kiss on his cheek. It was a little too close to his mouth then she plan on doing but Daryl moved her way that the last possible instant. Sophie thought about that action and cringed, as Daryl did not respond. He almost seemed shocked and she felt him tense. After a few seconds of watching Daryl focused, almost too focused, on the motorcycle and getting it ready to go, she got a reply. 

“Hold on.” Daryl put his hand on her arm around his waist to check her grip. At this point Sophie thought her grip was probably too tight and Daryl’s little sarcastic chuckle after felt her arm told her everything she needed to know. Sophie was torn between wild excitement and terror. She was definitely not going to let go of him, as she felt the motorcycle start moving them out of the parking lot and on to the deserted road.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date continues!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finally updated! I am a busy bee. (Graduate school sucks/is amazing. Just so you know.)  
> If it has too many errors, I am sorry about that. I wanted you give you all something before too much longer.  
> Also, I have to thank my friend Heather. A) she is amazing and awesome. B) she helped me out and inspires me to write. :D She helped me decide how to make Daryl get rid of a cigarette, so I must thank her. :D 
> 
> So, on with the show!

“That was the best thing ever! Oh my God, Daryl!” Sophie was yelling due to excitement and the sound of the engine. 

Daryl had pulled the motorcycle back into the bar parking lot and had parked in an empty space. The ride was a short one, a minute or so down the straight stretch of highway until Daryl found a spot big enough for him to turn around without Sophie having to do much work. Sophie knew this logically but she felt the ride was much longer and much more exciting. Daryl still had the bike engine on and he looked back at her like he expected something. Though at this point, Sophie had so much adrenaline in her system that her thought process was at zero percent. 

“You need to go home?” 

“No, I don’t need too.” Sophie said simply, still vaguely confused on why Daryl was asking. Daryl huffed and turned off the engine. Vaguely, Sophie was starting to think of what Daryl was implying. Did he want to date to end? Sophie was too still fuzzy from the excitement to even question what was happening. 

“You want do something else?” 

That statement had jumpstarted Sophie’s brain. She scrambled off the motorcycle and stepped a few feet away. She watched as Daryl followed her, calmly stepped off in a practiced, fluid motion. He was looking at her while he dug into his pockets. She assumed he was looking for his cigarettes and lighter and it was confirmed when he pulled them out and lit one. 

“Oh. I mean. We can. Um. Do you want to come to my house?” It did not register to Sophie that this could have sounded like a very sexual request. Sophie did not really go any where but work and home. It seemed like a logical thing to invited Daryl to her home to talk and watch T.V. We ate and now we go home . But when Daryl raised his eyebrow at her, she thought about it again. 

“Oh. Jeez. No. I don’t mean. Oh God. Did that sound as bad as I think it did?” Sophie hid her face in her palms. She did not think she could face the world in that moment. 

“Yeah. Sounded pretty bad. But, you want me in your house?” Daryl turned to flick some ash from his cigarette and it looked like he was hiding his face behind his longer hair.

Sophie was confused yet again by Daryl. She had looked up at Daryl when he had started talking. She thought it was interesting to see Daryl acting a little bit shy. Sure he did not talk a lot but seeing him almost hide his face was a different matter entirely. She had been thinking about what he had said too. Why would she care if he was in her home? She would not have asked if she did not want him there. Though she could see her mother having a panic attack about her having a strange man in her house. Maybe that was what Daryl was implying? She did not know how to respond and decided to be honest.

“Yeah. I don’t mind. I like you. And I thought: I hang out in my house, maybe we can hang out at my house together. If you want to keep hanging out with me. Because I like you. And this is really fun. Yeah. Really fun. So, yeah? Maybe.” 

Sophie was ready to die. She had thought that those awkward teen years were behind her. Alas, that was not the case. Though, she had start off calm but by the end of her remarks she was down to fragments and rambling thoughts. She did give herself credit for speaking clearly and not mumbling like she was prone to do. Daryl was just staring at her. He smoked his cigarette and stared at her. Suddenly, he lifted his boot and stubbed out the cigarette on the sole before flicking it away. Daryl looked like a caged animal. If someone could pace without moving, Daryl had achieved it. He was rubbing his hands up and down his pant legs then reached into his pockets again.

“Ya, Ya mean that?” Daryl spoke though the cigarette that he was lighting. And Sophie assumed that Daryl was trying to fight his anxiousness. He was smoking and fidgeting. That moment showed Sophie that she was going to have to be the brave one. 

“Yes. I mean it. Do you want to come? We can just watch some T.V. Do you want to follow me over there?” Sophie was feeling a little jiggering too but held her hand together behind her back and rocked up on to her tip toes a few times. 

“Yeah. I’ll follow ya.” Daryl again stubbed out his cigarette and went to turn around to get back on the motorcycle. Sophie was relieved that he was okay with her plan. In her relief, she decided to do something crazy. 

“Hey, Daryl. Wait. “ As Sophie said this, Daryl turned around. She walked right up to him and got as close to his mouth as she could without actually touching his lips.

“Is it okay if I?” Sophie did not even finish before she saw Daryl give a tiny nod with a murmured, “Yeah.” She pressed her lips against his in a kiss she hoped was gentle. After a few seconds, Sophie backed away and smiled at Daryl. She got her first kiss and she could not have been happier about who it was. Daryl was biting his nail and he smiled back at her grin.

“So, I guess you are coming back to my place. I will see you there.” Sophie giggled and waved at Daryl before turning around to go back to her car. She kept turning around to see Daryl and every time she did, Daryl would give a look and wave her off. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sophie led Daryl up to her apartment building. She was nervous to let him into her home. Would he think her apartment was messy? Would he like it? Daryl trailed behind Sophie all the way to the door. He was as quiet as he normally was but Sophie kept seeing a little smirk on his face. She was smiling way too hard for it to be normal. She was also giggling every time he looked at him, which might have been the cause of the smirk of his lips.

They finally made it into her apartment. Her apartment opened into her living room and she ushered Daryl onto her old, thrift shop couch. Her apartment was a random collection of thrift store items and new, cheap furniture. Sophie also liked photography and painting and she hung prints of her favorite artists all over her wall. As Daryl sat, and trying to take in the organized chaos of Sophie’s apartment, Sophie was running around her apartment doing her spastic impression of hosting. She listed off drinks that she could make him but, of course, Daryl refused all of them with a chuckle. Sophie finally settled down on the couch after moving random things in her living room in a fail attempt to clean up the space. She clicked on the T.V to a random channel and looked over at Daryl.

“So. This is my house. What you think?” Sophie said as she gestured to her apartment. 

“It’s nicer than mine.” Daryl mumbled out after a long pause. He looked about uncomfortable in the space, like he thought he did not belong. Sophie wanted to make him smile, just so he would not look so ashamed. 

“I am sure that is not true. And this place is not a castle or anything. It is almost too small for me, and I am a ‘little thing’.” Sophie giggled and nudged his shoulder with hers.

“Making fun of me? You are little.” Daryl grabbed her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. Sophie snorted at the comment. Sophie thought it would be funny if she showed him her ‘strength.’ She flexed the muscle in the arm that Daryl squeezed. 

“Roar. I am a beast!” Sophie growled and made her ‘game face’. This face was just scrunching up her nose and squinting her eyes. But judging by the look on Daryl’s face, he thought it was hilarious. Daryl squeezed her arm again while she flexed.

“That ain’t bad.” 

“’Ain’t Bad’? Well, let me see yours if you are such an expert.” Sophie pinched Daryl’s bicep. She felt the giant muscle hiding under his button up shirt. She knew that Daryl was not a show off and he would not take her joking seriously. Something Sophie was was okay with and not okay with. She was okay because she had wanted to make him laugh. She was not okay with that that she hoped that maybe he would take it as a challenge. Daryl was beautiful and Sophie would not mind appraising his good looks more closely. But Daryl scoffed and rolled his eyes at her like Sophie thought he would. If she could keep Daryl in this joking mood, her night would be the best night ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you want to know for reference, I think that most of the stuff on Sophie's wall is art prints. There is probably a Monet or a Van Gogh thrown into the mix. But I think she would either have a lot of Romantic artist. here are some examples! I think she would really be into nature and like the emotional nature of Romantic works.  
> [This one was way to big to put into the notes.](https://zoodesign.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/romantic-landscape.jpg)  
> Her photography would include the famous photos that I think that most people know: the great Milton Greene photos of Marilyn Monroe, and maybe some Dorothea Lange. (I would love to have some Dorothea Lange prints. I don't think they would be hard to get, if you just wanted a print of the famous stuff. I think that some of these Sophie would have just printed herself and framed on the wall. Because she wanted them... That might be illegal but I guess she lives life on the edge.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more date stuff! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wanted to get this out in a hurry. School and stress and stuff.  
> So, again, sorry for typos. I wanted you all to have a new chapter before I get too busy.   
> As, there is some cussing in this chapter. Wanted to let you know ahead of time. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“I can’t believe you never built one before!” 

Sophie’s voice was muffled behind the shack of blankets in her arms. The coffee table had been moved from in place in front of the T.V and in its place there was a pile of pillows and blankets. Daryl was standing in the corner of the living watching Sophie place every pillow and blanket she owned in her floor. This messed had started from a tiny movie reference. Daryl had accidentally rhymed two sentences when he was telling Sophie about where he lived. 

“I live just outside of town. By that old cabin that had burnt down.” 

Of course, being a dork that she was Sophie had to quote her favorite movie of all time. She had turned to Daryl in all seriousness.

“No more rhymes now, I mean it! Anybody want a peanut?” Giggles fell out of her mouth at the look on Daryl’s face. She had even done the voices. He looked so confused. Sophie thought that a clarification of the reference might help. Even after Sophie told him that it was from The Princess Bride, Daryl was still confused. 

“You have never seen The Princess Bride. Daryl. This is serious. My heart is breaking. We have to watch it right now!” Sophie had jumped straight off the couch and rushed into her room. She came back holding the DVD in her hand. As she was setting up the T.V, she suddenly stopped what she was doing and turned back to look at Daryl on the couch.

“This would not be complete without a blanket fort.” 

“A what?” Daryl had looked to be very confused by what was happening. Sophie had not thought about what Daryl would think about watching a movie or making a blanket fort. She had just got up and started grabbing every soft and fuzzy item that she owned after she had thought about it out loud.

So here they were, Sophie was dragging chairs into the living room and Daryl was staying back and watching. Sophie had finally found three chairs of the right height and some ponytail holders. 

“You have to help, Daryl.” Sophie said as she was placing the chairs in the correct spots. They were placed in a triangle formation in front of the television, surrounding the pile of blankets and pillows.

“Whatchu doing, exactly?” Daryl was biting his thumb again. Sophie had not realized that Daryl was uncomfortable or nervous.

“I am making a blanket fort. I always watch The Princess Bride in a blanket fort. See, just take the blankets and rubber band them to the tops of the chairs. Ta da! Blanket Fort!” Sophie was trying to stay positive and happy as she showed him how to make the blanket fort. She hoped that some of it would rub off on Daryl. Daryl had walked over to her and started holding blankets onto the tops of the chairs so she could secure them. When that was finished, Sophie worked on the inside. She placed the pillows and other blankets left over to make a soft spot on the floor but left two blankets to use if they wanted. 

“How does it look? Looks comfy, right?” Sophie looked to Daryl as she backed out of the fort. Daryl was just staring at it and then staring at Sophie. She did not understand exactly what was wrong. Was he nervous to be in there with her? It would probably be a tight fit. Sophie thought about how tight a fit and maybe she could snuggle up to Daryl as they watched the movie. Sophie was taking things a little past PG-13 in her thoughts when Daryl’s voice had broke her out of her daydreams.

“I ain’t ever seen anyone make this before.” Daryl had stood shoulder to shoulder with her as they looked at the blanket fort.

“I made them all the time when I was little. Come on, get in here.” Sophie crawled into the space and peeked out at Daryl.

Daryl looked like he was going to say something but shook his head and kneeled down on the ground. 

“Daryl, just come on!” Sophie was covered up in her blanket and was patting the space beside her. Daryl scooted into the space beside her. He bent his right knee and rested his arm on in as he hunched over inside the small, enclosed space. Sophie looked over at Daryl and huffed. She had lead over and started unlacing his boots. Daryl jerked his foot away.

“You can’t wear boots in the blanket fort. It is rule number one.” Sophie made a grab at his boot again with a grin. 

“There are rules?” Daryl grunted but ripped off his boots and sat them outside the fort. 

“Rule one: no shoes. Rule two: Movie plays when everyone is situated inside the fort. Rule three: food and drink allowed if you share them. Since it is your first time into Fort Sophie, I will that slide.” 

Daryl rolled his eyes but sat back down into the blankets. Sophie looked at him and waited until he was comfortable to start the movie.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sophie said every line of the film. During her favorite parts, she looked over to Daryl to see his reaction. He was smiling during the funny parts, which was all Sophie could ask out of the quiet man. He did chuckled during the rhyming scene, as he finally understood what Sophie was doing earlier. And Sophie thought he must have realized how bad her impression was. As the movie ended, Sophie was comfortable enough to ask about his family. Sophie turned off the film as the credits rolled but got back into the fort. Daryl stayed in his spot but looked like he did not understand why they were still sitting inside it. 

“I like sitting in these. Are you comfy?” Sophie grabbed some more pillows to give him as she moved herself to lay down facing Daryl. 

“Nah, girl. I’m fine.” Daryl waved off the pillows. Sophie still placed them around him, hearing Daryl huff as he lay down beside her on his back. Sophie wanted to squeal, but thought better of doing it. He wasn’t facing her, which Sophie thought was good considering that she thought she was making a dopey face. 

“Earlier, you said your brother was in jail.” Sophie stated more than asked. She hoped that it would not make Daryl mad. If he did not want to talk about it, she would not make him.

“Ya. That asshole always gets himself in trouble.” Daryl rubbed his face and quickly looked at Sophie before staring at the ceiling of the fort.

“He gets in trouble a lot?”

Daryl laughed. “Girl, he is always in and out. You don’t know?”

“I never met your brother. So, no. Why should I?” Sophie was confused. Apparently, Daryl’s brother was a well-known troublemaker. Sophie’s parents talked about people in town all the time, she just did not listen or care. She hadn’t been around or talked to her parents for a while and assumed that this might be why she did not know what Daryl was talking about. 

“Jesus. You know nothing, do ya?” Daryl growled out. He quickly got up and out of the fort. He paced around and looked like he was going to leave.

“Please don’t leave. I am sorry. I don’t know what I did but I am sorry.” Sophie felt like crying. She did not want to upset him. She just did not know that this was a sore topic. Daryl did not leave but he did not response. He stood need the door with his back to the room. Sophie quickly got of the fort, tripping on the blankets and pillows. She finally got to Daryl but stood back to give him some space. 

“I am sorry I don’t know about your family. I did not know that you did not want to talk about it. I won’t say anything else about it. I promise.” Sophie quietly said to Daryl’s back. She was trying not to cry, but she felt bad that she had brought up something that upset him. Daryl looked back her and huffed.

“Girl. You don’t know, do ya?” Daryl was doing his pacing without pacing again. 

“What should I know?” 

Daryl was biting his lip and shifting. Like he did not know what to say. Finally, he scoffed.

“Damn it! I ain’t a good person. My family ain’t good people. Everyone ‘round here knows. Why don’t you?” Daryl was yelling now. Sophie could see how upset he was and did not think that he was mad at her. It made a few tears come out, which of course, Daryl had seen. It made him stopped yelling, but he still seemed agitated. 

“Shit. Now, you are crying. I told you. Fuck.” Daryl looked at her and aggressively reached back to the doorknob to leave. Of course, Sophie wanted to stop him. He had let him get that out but she did not want him to leave. 

“Please don’t leave.” Sophie wanted to reach out and touch him to comfort him but thought better of it. Some people don’t like to be touch when they are angry and Daryl could be one of those people. Daryl stopped and looked at her. 

“Why? Made you fucking cry.” Daryl was staring at Sophie as she wiped the tears from her face.

“I wasn’t crying because you were yelling. I was crying because I made you upset.” 

“Jesus, girl. You are crying over me? That is the stupidest thing I ever heard.” Daryl stood there staring at her like she did something he did not think was possible.

“It isn’t stupid. I care about you. I made you upset and I am sorry. And you seemed really upset and I did not know how to help you. And then I stated crying because I couldn’t help you. Sorry, I hate crying because I cry all the time. Blah, blah, blah. Look at me talking. My daddy says once I start there is no stopping me.” 

Sophie saw Daryl’s face soften more than she had ever seen. He was back to biting his nail but he was looking her straight in the eye. Sophie reached up and grabbed his shoulder. She gave it a squeeze and a few pats. Daryl still said nothing but looked her in the eye. So, Sophie reached forward and gave him a hug. She wrapped her arms low around his waist and put her face into his right shoulder. Daryl did not react immediately but he finally placed an arm across her shoulders. Sophie moved her arms up his back to wrap around his shoulders to get a better angle but as she rubbed her hands up his back, Daryl stiffened. He did not move out her arms but he froze up there. Sophie let go and she moved back to look at him.

“I should not have done that. I am sorry if that was uncomfortable.” Daryl looked like he was thinking again but he finally spoke.

“Ain’t uncomfortable. I ain’t use to people touching my back like that is all.”

“I am sorry. Holy crap! Is it that late?” Sophie had been looked round the room to not make eye contact with Daryl. She had looked at the clock on her side table and saw that is was past eleven o’clock. Daryl was squinting his eyes at her but then chuckled as Sophie yawned.

“’Ight. I’ll leave. You go sleep.” Daryl said to her with a smirk on his face.

“I don’t want you to go but I do feel really tired. Wait! I don’t have your number. Can I have it? Oh, wait. Just give me your phone.” Sophie held out her hand for Daryl’s phone after her manic thoughts finally evened out. 

“I already got yours.” Daryl said to her not understanding what she wanted. 

“Then call me so I have yours.” Daryl called her phone and Sophie reached for her phone that was sitting on her table. She ignored the call and went to save his number.

“Got it. Thanks. I guess I will call you sometime. Okay?” Sophie shyly went back over to Daryl who was grabbing the doorknob and looking around the room.

“You going clean up later?” Daryl raised an eyebrow at the messy room.

“Yeah. It is fine. I can do it later. “ Sophie reassured him and lead him out the door. Daryl shrugged his shoulders and walked outside without a word. Sophie decided to play around with him a little bit.

“Daryl! You forgot something.” Daryl turned around, patting himself down and wondering what he forgot. Sophie walked the few feet outside her door to Daryl. She grabbed his face gently and gave him a quick kiss. 

“You forgot that. See you later.” 

Sophie gave Daryl and his smirking, but shocked face a wave and rushed inside before he could see her squeal and dance around.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is.   
> It is a little bit longer than my other chapters.  
> I wanted to get this out. :D  
> It does get a little steamy. Yay!!  
> It does have a strange ending but I wanted to get to that point and not have a super crazy chapter that would not be updated for a while. 
> 
> So here you go.   
> (P.S. if anyone wants any visuals or something. Let me know, I will happily answer questions/post some pics.)

Sophie was not a Jedi. This fact is important because Sophie was trying to will her phone to ring. This was not working, obviously, and Sophie was glaring at her phone all the while. The phone in question was sitting on her living room table and she was sitting on the couch unblinkingly staring at it. She lost this staring contest and slumped back on the couch. She woke up this Sunday morning haunted by a piece of technology. She had jumped out of bed and grabbed her phone. Did Daryl call? Did he leave her a voicemail or a text? 

Nothing.

There was nothing on her phone. 

Sophie’s shower that morning as the quickest shower of her life. Also, one of the most painful, as she had got soap in her eye and shaved a chuck of skin out of her shin. Band-Aid in hand, Sophie optimistically checked again. 

Again.

Nothing.

She watched some shows in her Netflix queue while holding her phone in her hand. Her breakfast and lunch were spent staring at her phone. It was a tiring few hours. By the afternoon, she was thinking about calling Daryl first. She became mad at herself because she was too scared to call. She would pick up the phone and stare at Daryl’s number. She could not make herself call him. Of course, this caused Sophie to pace her apartment again. Sophie was an angry pacer. Then she got tired and tried her hand at Jedi mind control and telekinesis. 

After a few minutes of this useless activity, she picked up her phone to stare at Daryl’s number again. She hoped she could build the courage to call him. Instead, she accidentally did something else.

“Shit! No! Wait, stop calling him!” 

Sophie had pushed the call button. She was frozen in her fear. She had dialed his number and she could hear the ringing on her phone. She was going to die. She held the phone up to her ear and hoped that maybe she would get his voicemail. 

Today was not Sophie’s lucky day.

“Ya?”

Sophie was alarmed at the sudden switch from ringing to Daryl’s voice. She was flapping her jaw because she just could not get the word out of her mouth.

“Who’s callin’?”

Again, Sophie was silent.

“I ain’t asking again.”

Sophie finally spit out some words.

“Hi. Hi. Daryl. Hello.” Sophie face-palmed so hard it made her wince. 

Sophie heard a little chuckle come from the other end of the line. She was glad that she got to hear Daryl laugh a little before she died from embarrassment.

“Girl, why you callin’?” There was a metallic thump in the background of the call. There seemed to also be a lot of sounds that Sophie thought sounded like tools and engines. 

“I. I wanted to call you. To say hi. Are you busy? You are busy. I am so sorry. This was rude of me.”

“Ya didn’t do nothing wrong. Just working.” 

“You are work? Is that okay? I won’t get you in trouble, will I?” Sophie had stood up and walked around her living room. Now, she was scared that she would get Daryl fired because she just had to accidentally make the call. 

“Nah, Soph.” Daryl sounded like he was putting something away. A grunt sounded through the phone as Sophie stood there smiling. He has given her a nickname. If sounded as through it was almost an unconscious action. Daryl just said what he was thinking and Daryl usually did not call her by name. She was ‘Girl’. So shocked by this, Sophie had to ask.

“You called me Soph.” Sophie murmured in the phone. She was shyly smiling and biting her lip. Sure, the nickname was a small gesture, but it made Sophie’s face flame up.

“Yeah. It’s your name.” Daryl did not seem to understand why Sophie was so excited about this new name. 

“No one has called me that. I like it. I always wanted a nickname. Well, I know that Sophie is a nickname but that is my legal name. On my birth certificate. Sophie. That is my name. My name is a nickname. And you usually call me ‘Girl’. I like that too. I do. I just like that I have a nickname.” 

As Sophie was rambling, the earlier background noises had died down. Had Daryl moved to a quieter place? She was a little embarrassed that she had rambled about her name but he hadn’t laughed. He did not speak during her speech but Daryl wasn’t a talker. Worry, or not to worry; that is the question. 

“’Ight, Soph.” Daryl huffed out a laugh. 

“When do you get off work?” Sophie blurted out. She plopped down on her couch wondering how she had so much courage when she was around Daryl. 

“In a few minutes. Why?” 

“Can we, can we meet up? Like, could we do something, together? I would like to see you again.” Sophie said this statement with her eyes closed and her head between her knees. It felt like forever before Daryl started talking. She did hear a flick of what she thought could be his lighter. 

“Ain’t a problem. You wanna go somewhere?” Daryl was talking through his cigarette again. His voice sounded muffled and Sophie could hear him blowing out the smoke.

“Can I see your house? And I would love another ride. On the bike! I meant, the bike.” Sophie was tired of the sexual implications that she kept accidently making. Daryl was quiet again. Sophie realized asking to see his house after last night might not be the best idea and hopefully Daryl would not be upset.

“You wanna go there? It’s a piece of shit.” 

“Yes. I want to see where you live. I am sure it is not a piece of shit. Please? And the bike? Please, Daryl?” Sophie was trying to do ‘puppy eyes’ but realized that she was on the phone. 

“I’ll be there in a few to get ya. Okay? See ya.” With that, Daryl hung up. Sophie was frozen for a few moments. She snapped out of her daze quickly though. She screamed with triumph as she dashed to get on some clothes for her second date.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sophie was waiting on the sidewalk when Daryl pulled up on his bike. She pulled on a pair of old, loose jeans with a baggy plaid button-up shirt and her dirty black converse. She thought she could have dressed nicer but tried not to over think it. Daryl gave her a look as he waved her over to get on the bike. Sophie skipped over to the bike, excited for the trip. 

“I could’ve came to the door.” Daryl said over the engine. 

“I was too excited!” Sophie cuddled into Daryl’s back.

Daryl had to explain how to take turns to Sophie more than once because she was too excited by the prospect of a long ride. Finally, much to Sophie’s delight, they took off toward Daryl’s home. The ride was not too long. Twenty minutes later, Daryl pulled up to a doublewide trailer. Sophie was surprised how far away Daryl lived. It was so isolated and she could tell why people in town talked bad about the Dixon’s. There were literal outsiders, and rural townspeople loved to pick on the outsiders. Daryl parked the bike and helped Sophie slide carefully off. Sophie wanted to say something to make Daryl feel comfortable. She could see Daryl’s anxiety in the way his shoulders tensed and the way his arms swung as he walked. She looked around the property as Daryl aggressively walked up to the front door. Off in the distance she could see the remains of a burnt building. She couldn’t see exactly what it was before and she wanted to ask Daryl. However, she heard Daryl getting her attention.

“Girl, you coming?” Daryl was standing in his doorway, waiting for her to start walking.

“Yeah! I think it is pretty out here.” Sophie jogged to the door, trying to make some small talk with Daryl. He let her enter first, and Sophie looked around the trailer. She saw that Daryl’s trailer was not messy but it was not the cleanest. It did look like he cleaned more than she did. The door opened to the living room and she could see a short hallway that would have to lead to Daryl’s bedroom. Daryl had walked over to the small table in front of the kitchen and emptied his pockets. Then he walked into the living room and threw himself onto the couch.

“If you want something, getcha self something.” Daryl sat on the couch, avoiding Sophie’s eyes.

“I am fine. I like it. Your place. It is much cleaner than my place. I hate cleaning.” Sophie slowly walked around the living room and peaked into the kitchen. She walked back to Daryl and stood up beside the couch. She did not feel like sitting down yet and decided to embrace the awkwardness to look at Daryl’s house. She walked to the table near the kitchen to look at what was on it. She did not hear that Daryl had got up and followed her. She felt him as his arm brushed her back.

“I am sorry if I am being noisy.” 

Sophie turned around to face Daryl. Her voice had started off strong but turned to a whisper as she realized that turning around brought her right into his face. Daryl seemed a little surprised by her closeness but did not move away. Sophie tried in vain to keep her eyes on Daryl’s eyes but her focus kept shifting to his lips. Daryl noticed this. Sophie fully expected him too but she thought he might make a move because he kept looking at her mouth too. She gave him a small kiss. This time, Sophie did not move all the way back and waited for Daryl to do something. She could feel Daryl’s warm breathe on her face. Daryl’s eyes were focused between her eyes and her mouth. Finally, he pressed his lips to hers in another kiss. Sophie wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer to her. Daryl had not moved his arms but stayed as he was, neck bent to kept his mouth on Sophie. They could not pull their lips away from each other. Individual kisses turned into a long, languid kiss. It was sweet but intimate. Daryl’s kisses were rough but not aggressive. He pressed his mouth against hers urgently while keeping a slow pace. She had never done this before but Daryl skillfully dominated the kiss to guide her to make them both enjoy it. Her hands had gone into his hair and she gripped it into her hands. She could feel Daryl let out sighs as she pulled his hair when she needed something to grab. Sophie decided that she wanted more and gave Daryl a nip on his bottom lip. Daryl gave out a small groan at the bite that made Sophie push herself harder against him. She realized that her eyes had closed when she opened her eyes to look at Daryl who had stopped kissing her after her love bite. Daryl had a look in his eyes that Sophie had not seen before. Before she could think about what that look was, Daryl grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her into his kiss. As Daryl’s kisses got rougher, Sophie felt Daryl’s other hand on the small of her back, pulling at the baggy shirt to feel her skin. Goosebumps went up her back and arms, as Daryl gripped her back. She could not help the small whimper that she let loose when she felt the Daryl’s thumb rubbed small gentle circles behind her ear. Sophie loved the answering growl that Daryl gave off in response to her sound. They were both so lost in each other and their kisses that they did not here the car park outside. They definitely hear the door open. Sophie nearly screamed when she hear a voice and Daryl jumped back like she caught fire.

“Woo Hoo! Well, what do we have here? Getting some while I was away, baby brother?” The older man stood just inside the door, giving both of them the smuggest grin Sophie had ever seen. He was wearing an opened button up shirt with a stained wife–beater under it and a pair of worn cargo pants. He looked seriously rough. He looked like the kind of guy that looking at him would be taken the wrong way and you end up with a black eye. She could see by his grin that he was a talker; he could probably charm the best of them if he needed too. Daryl, however, had not taken kindly to this man or his interruption. 

“Merle! Whatchu doin’ here?” Daryl was standing in front of Sophie also like he was hiding her from Merle’s sight. Sophie stood closer to Daryl’s back, thrown off from the sudden shift in atmosphere. She was looking around Daryl’s large shoulders to get a good look at the man. She realized that this must be Daryl’s brother Merle. But wasn’t he in jail? Sophie was confused by his presence and why Daryl seemed so mad that he was here. 

“Got out today. I thought I would come home and check on ya. But it seems you already had someone checking on ya.” Sophie had never really seen someone leer at her before but that was the only way to describe the look Merle gave her. 

“Don’t you fucking look at her!” Daryl spat this out while swinging an arm at Merle. Sophie thought Daryl was mad last night, but it was nothing compare to him right now. Though she thought it was a good clue of Daryl’s feelings for her if he cared enough to defend her from his brother. 

“Little touchy! Why is that, hmm? Does Darlina have himself a little girlfriend?” Merle was trying to get Daryl wound up by the look in his eye. Sophie decided that she had to stop it before Daryl ended up hitting his brother. She sidestepped Daryl to stand in front of Merle and held out her hand. 

“Hi. I am Sophie.” She had started blushing as soon as she talked. It was louder people that made Sophie shy. She did not talk as much when louder personalities came into play. And Merle definitely was a character. He had grabbed her hand in a firm shake and gave her a good wink. 

“Well, howdy. You are a sight for sore eyes, princess. You sure you want little Darlina? Ol’ Merle is a good time too.” Sophie’s eyes widened. She never had someone flirt with her so openly before. She did not know what to do but laugh. It came out like a snort. Merle looked surprised by her laugh. Sophie looked back at Daryl who looked like he was fighting himself. He was actually pacing the living room. He was sending Merle glares that would make weak hearted people faint. This gave Sophie courage to give it to Merle as good as he gave it. Well, she thought, she could at least give it a go. 

“Sorry, Merle. You aren’t my type.” It came out as a murmur but it seemed to send a shock wave to the whole room. Merle became speechless for a few moments. Daryl had stopped pacing and looked more confused than murderous. But after a while, they got control over themselves. Merle let out a laugh and Daryl had walked up beside Sophie looking drawn between hugging her and hiding her. Daryl still looked tense but he did not look like he was going to stab Merle. 

“Girly, I like you. Got a mouth on her, don’t she, baby brother? Hell, you already know that. Now, why you with that sack of shit, princess?” Merle had wiggled his eyebrows at Daryl when he asked him about Sophie’s ‘verbal skills’. The question directed at Sophie had thrown her but it just pissed Daryl off. Daryl actually stormed off into the back part of the trailer and slammed the door to what could his bedroom so hard it shook the trailer. 

“That wasn’t nice. He isn’t shit.” Sophie wasn’t looking at Merle but at the door that Daryl had slammed. Merle decided to get comfortable and threw himself on the couch. Sophie realized then that while Daryl and Merle did not look a lot alike, their habits and actions seemed almost identical. 

“You care for my little brother, don’t ya?” For the first time, Merle was giving her a serious look. He seemed suspicious of her and Sophie did not know what to do but speak honestly. 

“Yes. Very much.” Sophie was staring at her hands. It was odd to talk about her feels for Daryl with someone else. She was pretty open with Daryl in telling him she liked him but it was just plain strange to justify her feelings to Merle. 

“As long as you treat him right, princess, I can’t complain. You been treating him right?” Sophie knew now that Merle was not asking about Daryl’s actual well being anymore. He placed a lot of stress on the word ‘treating’ which made it sound so dirty that Sophie had to furrow her eyebrows that the lewd question. It seemed to her that Merle putting on his vulgar, joking face again. Did he not want her to see he cared about his brother? And his comment about treating Daryl right had made Sophie wiggle in place. While she had thought about Daryl in a sexual way, she did not want to talk to Merle about it. She also knew that Merle would use anything she said to piss Daryl off. 

“Daryl and I are just fine. Great, even. So if you don’t mind?” Sophie gestured through the door that Daryl was in and took off in that direction. 

She knocked on door, hoping that Daryl was a little calmer after being alone. She heard a grunt that sound like it was affirmative and let herself into the room. The room itself did not have a lot of furniture or décor. There was a bed, a desk and a chair. The rest of the belongings were placed in a few boxes around the room or inside the barely opened closet. Sophie was going to take a sit on the chair but was surprised to see a crossbow in the spot. Daryl had not spoke to her yet. He was lying on the bed, staring up that ceiling and waiting for her to do something. 

“Is this yours?” Sophie pointed to the crossbow. She wanted to talk about something else so Daryl will stop looking so glum. 

“Yeah. Hunt with it, few times a week.” He sat up and scooted over to the end of the bed. He held his hand out for the weapon. Sophie grabbed it and almost dropped it because it was heavier than she thought it was going to be. Daryl chuckled at her when she kind of juggled it before passing it to him. He looked at her, nodded his head in thanks, and gestured for her to sit in the chair. Sophie sat down and watched Daryl play around with his crossbow. She had no idea if he was actually caring for it or doing something to distract himself. She looked at the desk in front of her when Daryl decided he did not want to talk right now. She saw a strange fabric barely on the edge on the desk. She picked it up as she looked over to Daryl, hoping he did not mind that she was touching his things. She grabbed one end and held the fabric in the air to make out what it was. She saw a hole in the middle of the fabric and wanted to giggle. 

“You have a poncho?” She stood up with the poncho and walked in front of Daryl. He looked up at her and raised his eyebrows. She giggled at his expression.

“I haven’t seen one in forever!” She put her head in the hole and laughed at how much of her the fabric covered her. She grabbed at the neck hole and played around with the ends of the material.

“Looks like your wearing a dress.” Daryl had stopped focusing on the crossbow to look at Sophie playing around with his poncho. He was smirking at her spinning around in an attempt to get the poncho to fly up. Sophie laughed at Daryl’s comment.

“Yeah. I look silly. This thing is so big on me. You could probably fit in here with me.” Sophie thought it would be funny to try to get them both in the poncho. She walked closer to Daryl bunching up the front section of the poncho. Daryl did not seem to understand what she was doing. To his shock, Sophie had saddled his lap and pulled the material over his head. On instinct, Daryl grabbed her hips to hold her still. Sophie had to put her head inside of the hole to look down at Daryl.

“I was wrong. It doesn’t fit. But we have a poncho cave now.” Sophie gave Daryl a beaming grin. Daryl looked amused, shocked and a little uncomfortable. Sophie then realized she was in Daryl’s lap and her thoughts were catching up to her.

“Oh. God. Sorry, Daryl. I shouldn’t have just jumped on you like that.” Sophie pushed the poncho off of them. It was not the smoothest moves and Daryl laughed at Sophie when she tried a few times to get material out of her face. 

“You ‘ight, Soph.” Daryl said quietly. Sophie looked down at Daryl’s face. She could not see his eyes through his hair so she pulled his hair back. She kept her hands in his hair when she saw the look that Daryl was giving her. 

“That poncho was hard to get off. “ She laughed her joke but then got serious. She bent down and hugged Daryl. She buried her face in his neck and told him what she wanted to say when she first walked in. 

‘Are you okay? Merle was kind of an ass earlier.” She whispered into his neck. She felt Daryl give a shrug and his hands stayed at her hips. 

“He shouldn’t talk to ya that way.” 

“I can handle myself. I don’t like how he treated you though.” Sophie pressed a kiss to Daryl’s neck. She felt his arms wrap around her and a hand sweep her hair back. 

“It ain’t nothing for you to worry ‘bout.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More fun with Sophie and Daryl!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! I got this chapter out.  
> It was a chapter that just did not want to write.  
> Also, I had three papers to write so I had no time to work on this.  
> But I have a few weekend, so TA-DA!  
> Here it is. :D  
> Also, Heather, you amazing muse. I wanted to update this quickly because of that AMAZING ending to your Rickyl story. :D
> 
> On with the show!

Sophie and Daryl time at the trailer was cut short by Merle banging on the door, yelling at them to not make a 'mess' while he was gone. As soon as they had heard Merle take off on the bike, Daryl ushered Sophie out of the trailer. Sophie noticed a old, grey truck that must have been Daryl’s. She had only seen Daryl on the bike and her confused face made Daryl chuckle at her.

“This is mine. Merle must have taken it out earlier. Jump in.” Daryl pulled himself into the cab without looking back at her. 

Sophie walked to the passenger side door and heaved it open. She also fell over from the weight and, what she assumed was, rusted hinges that made it difficult to open. She grabbed the door and placed her hand on the doorframe to jump into the cab. She bounced into the seat and slammed the door. Daryl had lit a cigarette and had watched as she worked to get into the vehicle. She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. 

“Well, get a move on. I am in the truck now.” Sophie said playfully, giving Daryl a little punch in the arm. Daryl turned on the truck and shifted it into gear. He took off out of the driveway, spraying dirt as he went. As Daryl started toward town, Sophie finally realized that they have not talked about where they were going.

“Are we going somewhere?” Sophie picked up the pack of cigarettes that Daryl had throw into the seat. 

“I am taking you home.” Daryl was focused on the road, taking a peek at her as he answered. He had the window down and was blowing smoke out of the cab. 

“Are you going to stay with me?” Sophie said quietly. Her voice was almost drown out by the wind coming through the open window. 

“If you want.” 

“I do want that. I really do. Can I have one of these?” Sophie shook the cigarette box at Daryl’s face. She did not know if she really wanted one or not, but she had never held a cigarette in her hand before.

“You smoke?” Daryl furrowed his eyebrows. 

“No. I haven’t even held one before. My daddy smokes cigars. So, smoke isn’t a problem. So, don’t worry about smoking in front of me.” 

“Here. Hold it if you wanna. I don’t like the idea of you smoking.” Daryl frowned but passed his lit cigarette to her. Sophie grabbed it and held it between her thumb and forefinger. She inspected it for a second then giggled. 

“I don’t think I want to smoke. I like watching other people though.” Daryl held his hand out to take it back but was surprised when Sophie nudged it out of the way. She placed the cigarette right up to his mouth and Daryl grabbed it out of her fingers with his mouth. His mouth touched her fingers and Sophie smiled at the tingle it caused on her skin. 

It was not long before Daryl pulled his truck up to Sophie’s apartment. From the parking spot, Daryl and Sophie had to walk past the dumpster to make it to front door of the building to get to Sophie’s apartment. Passing the dumpster, Sophie heard a tiny little yelp. She stopped to be sure that is was not anything dangerous or that she was imagining things when she heard it again. She walked over to the spot she though the noise was coming from. She got down on her knees to look under the dumpster and let out a loud coo. Daryl had stopped to figure out exactly what Sophie was doing behind him and signed as he saw her crawling under the dumpster. He was even more surprised with what came out with her as she stood up.

“Daryl! Look at the little puppy!” 

Sophie had saw the little puppy sitting under the dumpster. There was a turned over box that Sophie thought the poor thing had pushed over then fell under the dumpster. The little thing had soft grey fur and was built a little stocky. It looked like a pit bull mixed with a bulldog. Sophie could not stop cuddling it and kissing it. She looked over to Daryl who has scratching his head. 

“It is so cute. Aren’t you? You are so cute. Little baby puppy!” Sophie was talking in the silliest baby voice ever heard. She could hear Daryl laughing at her but she did not care at the moment. All she wanted to do was hold and love on this puppy. 

“You want me to take you to the pound so you can turn it in?” Sophie gasped so loud that Daryl was taken off guard.

“Daryl! I can’t! I have to keep it. Him? Her? Oh, him. Hi, baby boy!” Sophie picked the puppy up to check the sex and cooed at her new dog. 

“You sure you can keep him?” Daryl was biting his nail and looking nervous again. Sophie was too absorbed in the little furry baby to help calm him. She could not calm herself.

“Yeah. I can. They allow dogs here. I can tell them I got one in the morning. I might have to pay a deposit or something but it wont be much. And I always wanted a dog. Look at him, Daryl. Little puppy, tell Daryl that you want to live with Sophie. Say that I need a good home and Sophie loves me. And that you are a cutie. Isn’t he a cutie? Let’s give Daryl kisses until he changes his mind.” Sophie cuddled to Daryl’s side and held the puppy up to Daryl’s face. The puppy, which was yelping and wiggling this whole time, had jumped into Daryl’s face and licked his facial hair. Daryl moved back but allowed the dog to lick him. Sophie saw that Daryl had this sweet little smile on his face. She thought that maybe Daryl never had a dog before. It could also be the face that Sophie was acting like the dog was a baby. 

“He’s cute. You wanna go inside now, or you going to stay out here?” 

Sophie was so distracted that she did not even realize they were outside still. 

“Yes! Yes. Sure, Daryl. Come on little puppy, let’s go inside. I will have to get you toys and treats.”

Daryl followed Sophie and her new friend inside. The little dog had gotten sleepy from all the excitement and hand fallen asleep in Sophie’s arms but the time they had entered the apartment. It was an awkward period of passing the keys from Sophie’s purse to Daryl so he could open the door without waking the puppy. They were able get into Sophie’s bedroom and lay the dog on her pillows. Daryl pulled Sophie out of the room so the dog would stay asleep instead of waking from Sophie’s constant attention. They left the door open, as to hear the dog if it woke up. Sophie was so excited for her new pet that once she was out of the room she started making a list of everything she would need to care for him. She was so deep in thought she almost forgot Daryl was there until he sat down next to her on the couch. 

“Daryl, I am so excited. Oh! What should I name him?“ 

Sophie chewed on the end of her pencil. She actually wanted his opinion. If Daryl was going to spend time with her, then she want to make sure that Daryl would be a part of this process too. It would be her little part of him, just in case their relationship did not last. Sophie worried about whether or not their relationship, if it were in fact a relationship, would be short and sweet. His help in naming her dog would be a reminder of him. He would a part of her life that she got to keep, even if he went away. 

“He’s your dog. You get to name it.” Daryl had relaxed back on to the couch next to Sophie. He seemed a little nervous possible due to the fact that Sophie had asked for his opinion. 

“You have to help. I am going to need help. And! And when he gets bigger, he can go hunting with you. Oh. Let’s look up what kind of dog he is! That might help.” Sophie, manic as always, ran to her computer. Her computer was set up on a desk in the corner of what should be a dining space that connected to her living room. Sophie, however, did not own a table in her dining room. There was just a desk, which like the rest of her house, was covered in all kinds of things. She moved the coats and blankets covering her desk chair and plopped down. She typed in a strange descriptive phrase into Google to figure out the breed of her dog. 

“Nope. Nope. Ha, ha! No. Nope. Wrong. Wait! Here! Here it is. A Staffordshire bull terrier. He kind of looks like that! Awww. He will be a sweetheart.” Sophie was pouring over dozens of pictures on Goggle and did not noticed Daryl got up to stand behind her, thinking about what she had just said.

“You’ll let me take your dog huntin’? It’s your dog.”

“Yeah, but I want you to have fun with him too. And he could be useful. It would be fun for him. Would you want to do that? I mean I want you to have fun with him too. And maybe it will chill the dog out. “ 

Sophie hoped that her speech had made Daryl feel better. She wanted to share the dog with Daryl like she wanted to share her time with him. Hopefully, he would see it as fun and not as work. She did not want to put him out and would not make him do it if he did not want to do it. She just thought that it would be one way Daryl would want to interact with her pet. Sophie shut down her computer and stepped into her bedroom to check on the puppy. As soon as she stepped into the room, a puppy yawn sounded from the bed. 

Sophie, being unable to part from the puppy, rushed over to pick it off the bed. The small animal began wiggling in her grasp and making little yelping sounds. Sophie looked around her bedroom before she saw what she was looking for. It was a small stuffed rabbit that Sophie did not like that much anymore. It was not a gift so she felt it was all right it she let the puppy chew on it. She walked the dog into her living room while holding the rabbit for the dog to chew on. She sat the dog in the floor to allow him to get use to the surroundings. She giggled as the small dog rolled and ran around the room. The dog found the tiny rabbit and began to play with it again. She signed and looked up at Daryl, who had not moved from his position in the dining room.

“He is a sweetheart, right? He needs a name. Got any ideas?” Sophie laughed again as the small dog started pulling on the laces of Daryl’s boot. Daryl huffed and pulled his foot back to get the puppy off his shoe. The puppy, however, was stubborn and held on to the laces. His little growls were making Sophie laugh even harder. Daryl growled back and grabbed the puppy, pulling the laces gently out of the dog’s mouth. He held the puppy to his chest and walked over to Sophie. 

“How about Knucklehead? He is a stubborn little shit. ” Daryl, still holding the dog, sat down on the couch next to Sophie. Sophie scratched at the dog’s head while thinking that Daryl was absolutely adorable holding the little dog. He was petting it, letting it nibble on his callused fingers. 

“Ha! That would be funny. No, I can’t call him that, Daryl. It would be mean. What about Fessik?” 

“Fessik? The hell?” 

“From the Princess Bride! That is my favorite movie and you said that he is a bruiser. Fessik was played by Andre the Giant.” Sophie grabbed the puppy from Daryl’s arms. The puppy barked and scrabbled onto the floor.

“Girl, don’t you have give’em dog name? Like Sparky, or that shit?” 

“No, you don’t. You can name them whatever you want.” The nameless puppy was very content playing in the floor. This was either chewing on the little rabbit toy or coming back to Daryl’s boots. Each time, Daryl would lift his foot but would have to bend down and pull the dog off his shoe. 

Sophie’s hand came down on Daryl’s forearm without any warning or indication. 

“Daryl! I got it. I have the perfect name. Marlon Brando.” Sophie took it as a good sign that Daryl did not make any kind of face at the name.

“Any reason why?” Daryl had decided to hold the puppy again. Sophie did not know if the dog just liked laces or if it liked to miss with Daryl. 

“Well, Marlon Brando was super cute when he was younger. Also, He was famously annoying onset. Perfect, right? They are both cute and annoying. Though, Brando was more of a jerk. This puppy will be sweet though.” 

The puppy curled up in Daryl’s arms and cuddled under his chin. Sophie wanted to hold the puppy but it looked so cute with Daryl that she could not part them. 

“Girl, when are you going to get Lil’ Brando here some food.” 

“Oh my God! Lil’ Brando! That is so cute. And, crap, we probably should go now. Want to come to the pet store with us, Daryl?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could not help myself. The dog was calling to me. 
> 
> Also, it took me FOREVER, to pick the dog breed out. I had all of this things that I wanted in a dog. Then I found the Stafford Bull Terrier and was hooked. It is too cute for words. Also, names are hard. Just. Hard. 
> 
> Here is what Lil' Brando looks like:  
> 
> 
> They are so sweet! Gah! I love them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More doggy fun, and we meet someone new!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone!
> 
> So, first, sorry about the long wait. School kicks my butt. I finally finished it!  
> Yay! 
> 
> Here we go!

The pet store was an interesting experience. Sophie wanted buy Brando every tiny toy and sweater that she saw. Daryl talked her out of buying a lot of dog clothes. He claimed that dogs do not need clothes and it just looks stupid. Sophie did not really agree. So, when Daryl was not looking, she put a cute knitted dog sweater that had a skull on it into her cart. Daryl had followed her around the store as Sophie fluttered around randomly. Sophie loved watching Daryl walk around the store and keep Brando in line. A few times, she had reached back to touch Daryl’s shoulder or leaned against him as they looked at items on the shelf. Finally they had grabbed everything they had needed: a collar, leash, food and some toys. They had everything in the cart and headed for the checkout. Before they even exited the store, Sophie had Brando in his collar and leash. After a little bit of pulling and tugging, the couple was able to walk Brando out of the shop without much trouble. 

As they were walking across the parking lot, they hear someone yelling. Daryl immediately looked around trying to find out what was happening. Sophie was too busy playing with Brando who was running around the parking lot smelling everything in sight. Sophie had walked away from Daryl, though Daryl had kept his eye on her as she let the puppy explore. Daryl had taken the shopping bags and threw them in Sophie’s car. He was waiting for her walk back to her vehicle but at that point when he heard the yelling, Sophie was a few cars away from Daryl and was letting Brando play in a patch of grass in the parking lot median. Daryl had pinpointed the source of the noise and saw an older man walking in Sophie’s direction. Of course, Sophie had not noticed the large, intimidating guy walking toward her. Daryl did not know what to do. This guy looked like he could do some damage and Daryl did not know if he could win in a fight against this guy, if it came to that. He had a few inches up and out on Daryl. Daryl had also just realized what this man was calling out to her.

“Baby girl! Baby girl! Are you listening? Jesus, I love you but pay attention!” 

At this last statement, Sophie stopped walking around the cars with Brando and let out a squeal. She picked up Brando and ran full speed at the strange man. The man held his arms out for her and she ran right into him. The man was pushed back a little bit at the force of her run but he held them both up. They stopped hugging and were speaking in very friendly terms. There was lots of laughing, and playing with the small dog. At one point, the man had picked up Brando and was making growling noises and playfully baring his teeth. 

Daryl did not know what was happening. Who was this guy talking to Sophie? And why did it make him feel weird? He noticed that Sophie was pointing at him and the man was looking him over. He stiffed up and he started to walk toward them when he saw that Sophie was waving him over. When Daryl got over there, the man had handed Brando back to Sophie and gave Daryl a nod.

“Daryl, this is my daddy. Daddy, this is Daryl.” Sophie was giving Daryl as giant grin. Her father was asking about her new dog and she had brought up Daryl kind of on accident. He started questioning on who that was and she had to point out Daryl to her father. She felt a little embarrassed by the questions her father was asking but she also knew that her father would like Daryl. Her father did not really hate anyone. He looked stern, but he was actually quite the softy. 

“Bruce. Nice to meet the man who has been seeing my daughter.” 

Daryl shook Bruce’s hand. Sophie wanted to hit her father for that comment. She knew that he was trying to gauge Daryl’s personality and get some information out of him. Also, Bruce was a joker. Sophie did feel a little blush form on her face as she saw Daryl stiffen up. It looked like he was standing his ground against her father and Sophie was a little embarrassed to think that she liked it. 

“Mmhmm. Nice to meet you too.” 

Daryl was squinting his eyes and he crossed his arms over his chest. Of course, Sophie was staring that the sight. She was a sucker for those eyes and those arms. Bruce grinned at Daryl. Daryl was furrowing his eyebrows but said nothing in return. This made Sophie huff and looked back and forth between the dog and her father. She placed Brando on the ground while holding tight on the leash then punched her father in the arm. He turned to his daughter and chuckled. 

“Baby girl, don’t hit me. Give your poor old man a break. I never get to have any fun anymore.” 

“Be nice. I do not need you scaring him away. I like him.” Sophie tried to whisper this but Daryl heard her.

“I ain’t scared, girl.” Daryl quickly looked over to her then leveled his stare at Bruce. 

“Well, see! He ain’t scared.” Bruce wiggled his eyebrows that Sophie who just sighed at him. 

“Just be nice. Daryl, I am sorry about him.” Sophie gave Daryl a smile in hopes that he was not too put off with her dad. Daryl seemed to relax but only enough to uncross his arms. He was still squinting and his mouth was in a tense line. Not that Sophie was looking at this mouth. Okay, she definitely was looking at his mouth. 

“ Ain’t a problem, Soph.“ 

“See? No problem. And when are you going to call your mom? She misses you. You might want to tell her you got a dog with some boy you ain’t married too.” As Bruce said this, he lean down to pet Brando, who during this talk was wrapping himself around Sophie’s legs and trying to break free from his lease. Bruce also gave his daughter a wink that Daryl could not see. 

“It ain’t my dog. See ya in the car, girl. Bruce.” Daryl gave Bruce a head nod and walked back to the car. Sophie was going to call out to give him her key, since it was her car, but remember that Daryl had grabbed them because she kept ‘losing’ them while they were trying to leave. Her definition of lost was that she forgot that she was actually holding the keys and spent five minutes looking around the apartment for the keys in her hand. Daryl had taken the keys after this and told her he would hold them. Well, Daryl’s method of this was to huff, grab her keys and mumble something under his breath. Bruce had noticed that Daryl was in Sophie’s car with her keys and had to comment on it.

“My girl moves fast, huh? Well, I like the boy. A little rough but there isn’t anything wrong with that. What was his last name?” 

“It is not like, well, I don’t even know what we are. So, it isn’t fast. And it’s Dixon. Do you know them?” Sophie stammered as she tried to explain to her father that she was unsure of her relationship with Daryl. She knew that her father would not say much about this. Her mother, however, would push for every detail. She did know, however, that Daryl’s family would not be the problem that Daryl thought it was. 

“Not really, but your mom would. That woman knows everyone. Bring him over sometime. You know you mom will want to meet him. With the way he acts, she is going to smother him in love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, when I first thought of this I was thinking of who would be Sophie's dad.  
> Once I thought of this man, no one else could be Bruce. 
> 
> Yep, Ron Freaking Perlman  
> 
> 
> So, that is the man that I have in my mind when I was writing Bruce. 
> 
> Also, here is that cute little dog sweater for Brando:  
> 
> 
> One more thing, I have a question for my readers. How do you picture Sophie? I kind of wanted to ask everyone what they thought she looked like. This is is just a fun little experiment so there is no right or wrong answer. :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to meet mom!! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. God. I am the worst. I have not updated in FOREVER. So, I wanted to get this out so you can actually read something new. So, here it is. Also, if you are wondering about the rating because I do not having anything M yet, I had planned on it but this is a super slow burn. So, there is that. On with the show.

A few days had passed since Sophie had last seen Daryl. Sure, they had communicated in the brief time apart, but Sophie had missed just being around him. She knew that they both worked and separation was just a part of that. He had not stayed with her after the meet and greet with her father in the pet store parking lot. She took them home and they went their separate ways. Now, her primary concern was trying to talk to her mother without dying of embarrassment. 

“Mom. I just, I just really don’t know, okay? I mean, we hang out and stuff. We went to a bar and he took me on his brother’s bike. And I have been to his house and stuff.”

“Honey, those were dates. D-A-T-E. He likes you. Bring him over and I will get it out of him. He sounds like a sweetheart. And he loves that dog of yours. Bring that cutie, too. I brought some cute things for him. Your daddy told me all about him and Daryl. I can’t wait to meet them. Do you think he likes fried chicken? Daryl, not the dog. I will make that. Everyone loves fried chicken. If he doesn’t, then that is a sign to move on.”

During that long-winded, one-sided conversation with her mother, Sophie tried to speak but was steam rolled. Sophie wanted to tell her mother that she did not know how to ask Daryl over to meet her parents. They have not even had that talk you are suppose to have to clear up the relationship. Were those dates? It did not have to be but Sophie wanted to talk about it before she called it something that it wasn’t. They have only seen each other a few times. This was a relationship situation that she was not prepared for, so, she tried her best to placate her mother. For the record, it never works.

“Mom, listen. I don’t know if he even wants to go. I haven’t asked him to go to your house. Okay? I have no idea what is going on. Just…”

“Well, ask him.”

“It’s not…”

“It’s easy. Okay, ‘Daryl, come meet my great parents. They want to tell you stories of baby Sophie and feed you good food’.” 

Sophie had to laugh that the voice her mother put on that was supposed to be her voice. It was so silly that Sophie was agreeing to ask Daryl to dinner before she realized that she was agreeing.

“Okay, okay. I will try.” 

“See, not so hard. I have to go, but I love you and I will see you and your beau soon!”

“I love you too…” Before Sophie could finish her sentence and correct her mother, the line disconnected. 

\-------------------------------------------------

Asking Daryl to eat dinner with her family was surprisingly easy for Sophie. It was the first time that Sophie had got to see Daryl since getting Brando. It was Friday and Sophie knew that waiting the day before to ask him to go to her parents’ house was cutting it close but she was nervous. She had invited Daryl in and when they were in comfortable silence on her couch, she just blurted out “You want to meet my parents on Saturday?” Once she was finally able to ask the question, it seemed like the difficult part was getting Daryl to think that she wanted him to go.

“Girl, I don’t see why you want me to go anyway.” 

“Of course I want you to go. Why would I not want you to go?”

Daryl was avoiding her eyes. He did that cute nervous habit where he was biting his thumb and shifting in place on the couch. 

“I ain’t the kind of guy for bring home.” He spat out. It could have sounded mean but Sophie could see that he was upset. 

“I really want to bring you. My mother won’t stop talking about you." She quickly said but then paused and spoke again in a soft, almost whisper. "But, shouldn’t I decide who I think deserves to meet my parents? And I want you to met them because I like you. Okay?” 

Daryl did not speak for a few moments before he said, “Alright. What time is dinner?”

\-------------------------------------------------

Sophie was surprised to see that her mother was not waiting outside as they pulled up to her parents’ home. But she did know her mother well enough to know that she was watching from one of the front windows as her mother couldn't help but get a good look at the approaching couple. The house was a medium sized home on the edge of town. It had an almost picturesque cabin feel, as it was a built like one with the wooden exterior, but it had the benefit of not being in the middle of nowhere. Sophie could see her father under the hood of one of the multiple fixer upper cars that he had lined up next to the house. As Daryl pulled his truck into the space that Sophie pointed out to him, she saw her father wave a grease-covered hand in their direction. Sophie was trying to keep Brando in her lap but the dog was squirming in excitement. So, she popped the door open and let the dog go which, luckily for her, was straight toward her father. She got out of the truck and saw that Daryl had followed her lead by exiting the vehicle. 

“Well, look at you, bud!” Bruce cooed at the dog while wiping his hands on a rag. He picked up the dog that was barking at his feet then gave her daughter and Daryl a wave. 

“Hi, Dad. Is mom inside?” Sophie asked as she moved toward Daryl who had gotten out of the truck but had not move toward the house or Bruce. 

“You know your Mom, she is cooking up a storm in there. Boy, you better be ready to eat, cause that women won’t sit until we have stuffed our faces.” Bruce smiled at the pair, then turned to the house as the door open and a squeal was heard from inside. 

“My baby!! There you are!! I made all your favorites. Come here! Hug your mom. I missed you so much!” Sophie’s mother said all of this within the small distance from the door to Sophie’s position in front of the house. She had her arms around her daughter, rocking her side to side and patting her back. 

“Mom, I saw you not that long ago. But hi. Nice to see you.” Sophie pushed her mother away gentle and smiled at her. Sophie’s mother turned toward Daryl and grinned. 

“Why, hello there. You must be Daryl. Welcome! I am Laura and it is so nice to meet you. ” She walked over and held out her hand for Daryl to shake. Daryl wiped his hand on his pants before grabbing her hand in a quick shake. 

“Let’s get inside. Everything is done and it is more comfortable in there anyway. Awww, baby! You have the puppy. Let me see.” Laura went over to Bruce and grabbed the puppy. She waved everyone toward the house and she carried Brando in while cooed and petting him. 

“That went well. I thought she might hug you, which... yeah would be weird. You ready?” Sophie whispered to Daryl as they followed Bruce and Laura inside. 

“Hmmmm. Yeah, Girl.” Daryl gave her a shrug as he walked alongside her into the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? I know it is short but the next part is going to be longer. Sorry for the wait!


End file.
